A Farewell To Summer

Many people rejoiced with the arrival of the Autumnal Equinox at 4:21 AM on Wednesday. Indeed, with the fall comes cooler weather, the spectacular colors displayed by dying leaves, full fledged football and the World Series in Major League Baseball, and a whole host of other highly anticipated events.

I do love the fall, but I think I'll always be a summer person at heart. Specific to Columbus, I've come to appreciate the numerous festivals, sometimes wild weather, and being bathed in sunlight and the accompanying warmth. The following photos are something of an ode this now departed season:

Lemonade stands were plentiful (and often visited) around
our new neighborhood of residence

Renee of Mighty Macs flashes a big smile at the Moonlight Market
on Gay Street (we flashed one too when we tasted her macarons)

Some of the stones dedicated to female figures found along
the path in Women's Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio

A large crowd queues to see the special sneak peek showing
of John Green's Paper Towns movie at the Palace Theatre

Fourth of July decor was in prominent display at the
family-oriented Spirit Parade, held annually in the
Colonial Hills neighborhood in Worthington

Rain dominated the first month of summer; this torrential
downpour slowed down cars for a several minutes along
northbound State Route 315

A member of Central Ohio Plein Air works on her painting
on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse

A closeup of the Brewmaster's Gate in Columbus Brewery District
 as seen during our tour hosted by Columbus Brew Adventures

Street musicians get into the groove during
summer edition of Yellow Springs' Street Fair

First of two from Columbus' Greek Festival:  the mosaic
rendition of Saint Mark on the dome above
inside the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Dancers of all ages performed traditional Greek dances
as part of Columbus Greek Festival entertainment

Some neat vintage placards found on a 1931 Arrow Pierce automobile
at the annual Cruise The 'Ville event in Clintonville's Whetstone Park

The Long Street Cultural Wall, detailing important people and landmarks in
Columbus' African-American Community, reached its first birthday this year

Terminal Tower, Cleveland's sister landmark skyscraper to
Columbus' LeVeque Tower, stands tall on a windy day

The folks at The Coffee Mess, a vendor at this year's Old Hillardfest,
show you what your face looks like before you get their pourover brews

Elsie The Cow stands guard on this building brick wall
located just outside of downtown Chillicothe, Ohio

The female winner of the half-marathon speeds down the homestretch
at the annual Air Force Marathon in Dayton, Ohio

A simple and somber tribute to those who lost their life four decades
ago in the devastating F5 category Xenia tornado, the worst
of the 148 tornadoes from the April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak

A slightly stylized photo of Columbus' Topiary Park, nestled
firmly within the city's Discovery District

Workers tend to the greenery on top of a Downtown Columbus bike shelter

Storm clouds try to get their act together above a Columbus
Clippers baseball game at Huntington Park

The young ladies of Bailey's Drive-Inn Donuts prepare bags of their fried
goodies at the Thursday version of the New Albany Farmers Market

High-heeled encouragement on a sign just north of the
OSU Campus along the Olentangy Trail

The giraffes and camels go two-by-two on this Noah Ark-themed
vase in Zanesville's Giant Circle of Vases

Just Like Clockwork: Starliner Diner

The Bay Area has its share of diner-style places fitting many vibes, from the classic 50s (Lori's in San Francisco and Bette's Oceanview in Berkeley) to 80s new wave/rock (Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville), to country homestyle rustic (the Fremont Diner in Sonoma) to city historic (Grubstake Diner in San Francisco is fashioned out of an old streetcar.) However, nothing I've encountered yet in my old home area quite matches the combo of unique kitsch and brunch deliciousness that Starliner Diner in Hilliard brings to its diners.

Visual kitsch abounds at Starliner Diner, giving the diner a lot to see

Open for roughly 20 years, Starliner Diner gives the visitor a lot of kitsch to look at, from the colorful murals to sports-related memorabilia (some of the waiting area chairs appear to be old stadium seats) to the numerous retro clocks that dominate the one wall and randomly appear at various other places in the interior. While no one decor or era totally dominates, the cumulative effect lends an overall cool and kitschy feel that is welcoming and seemingly familiar.

The dishes come flying out at a fast rate during the busy weekends

During the busy weekends, the waiting diner (even at its busiest, Starliner seems to get people seated in relatively quick fashion) can add the numerous delicious dishes awaiting pickup to their visual distractions. One of my fun tasks on my first visits was trying to figure out what dishes were what, and trying to figure out what I was truly hungry for on that particular visit.

On our last visit, my spouse went with an favorite for both us, their Chilaquiles, a hearty combo of scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, black beans, and cheese with tortilla chips; meanwhile I went with the Mexican Chorizo Omelette with chorizo, peppers, onion, garlic, cheese & cilantro with a side of Cuban Toast.

These dishes, along with most of the other Starliner's breakfast items, have rarely disappointed. From the Cuban French Toast (their Cuban Bread cubed up and prepared) and Cuban Breakfast, Huevos Rancheros, and various usual specials (Blueberry Pancakes and Azteca Breakfast Enchiladas, to name a couple) provide hearty and delicious early morning fare at reasonable prices (basically less than $10 per dish) with leftovers to spare on most days.

Oh, did I mention they serve lunch and dinner as well? Frankly we're still having too much fun with breakfast at Starliner, but one of these days, I swear we will sample those wares as well.

Starliner Diner
5240 Cemetery Road
Hilliard, OH 43026
(614)529-1198
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Golf Ball-Sized Fail: A Return to the Frustrating

The white-dimpled nemesis

One thing I have painfully found out over the past year or so (other than the true meaning of an Ohio winter): geographical relocation does not help your golf game.

Okay, twenty years of rust and aging doesn't help either. And moving out to the home metro of one of professional golfing's greatest ever, Jack Nicklaus, hasn't added one modicum of talent to my paltry skills either.

I suppose backtracking is in order here. Twenty years ago, I used to play golf weekly in a work-based league. If nothing else, the league provided me an opportunity to unwind, drink a few brews, enjoy time with co-workers outside of work and, every now and again, hit a shot that would make even Jack himself applaud. Eventually, circumstances changed and the league was no more, and slowly but surely my interest in the sport faded.

Then came last year, when a good friend of me and the Mrs. finally found that someone with whom the tie the knot. Part of his bachelor party itinerary, which I was invited to and accepted heartily, was golfing 18 holes. I thought to myself what a fun start this would be to a big night of celebration.

Then reality thunked into my brain like an errant tee shot: I hadn't even thought about striking that dimpled white ball in nearly two decades, nor did I have the equipment (save for a random assortment of golf balls) to do it with. I made a decision that this would be my "re-dip my toes in the water" trial: I'd make a minimal investment in some golf equipment and see if my interest came back again.

I've found Play It Again Sports a great resource for quality used and new sporting goods for a good price back in the Bay Area, and I was happy to find out the Columbus metro area had a few locations. I figured that in an area where golfing interest is higher than most, there would be a location rife with golfing equipment. Sure enough, the Hilliard location fit this bill nicely with a pretty nice inventory. In keeping with my minimal investment promise, I forked down about $80 for a pretty decent haul: an older standard set of clubs (including bag and putter,) gloves, the cheapest pitching/sand wedge I could find, and a bag of tees.

These folks could've had a good laugh if they just
looked over their shoulder...

My only practice session before the game took place in the southern portions of Dublin. Ables Golf on Avery doesn't look like much from the road, but it provides the facilities for basic practicing (a large hitting area, covered and outdoor tee areas and a pitching and putting green) plus a few extras (a putt-putt course geared toward kids, swing analysis, and teaching pros for either scheduled or walk-in golf lessons.)

As you might expect, this session was laughably bad. My body sort of knew what to do, but the results were nowhere near consistent. Never mind (unknown at the time) that I had bought a club set geared for someone about 3-4 inches taller than me. My typical slice was sort of there, but I threw in a few pulls, pop-ups, worm-burners, and even some almost-whiffs for good measure. The bachelor party match a couple days later wasn't much better, but the scramble format made it easy for me to contribute every now and again to our team's success.

Aiming is a relative term, right?

Since then, I've actually gained some insight into what has turned out to be a dabbling interest in this sport of exasperation. As alluded to previously, my clubs are made for someone a few inches taller than I am. The simple adjustment of choking up on my clubs has helped me strike the ball a lot more cleanly on most swings. On the other hand, the wedge and the putter I have have the totally opposite issue, being designed for someone more height-challenged than I. Yes, my intent was not to invest too heavily in this second dabbling, but nevertheless this experience fits that oft-repeated mantra: you get what you pay for.

Even now, the practice range still remains a yin and yang of promise and frustration, mainly divided along types of clubs. I have been hitting my woods (traditionally my favorite clubs anyway) about as well and as far as I ever have. On the other side, my irons are completely confounding pieces of metal. My shots are generally straight, but the distances are similar across groups of clubs (my 4-iron seems to go as far as my 6-iron, while I can hit my 9-iron as far as a 7-iron.)

Perhaps the ultimate decider will be getting a regular group of folks to play some golf with again. Golf is often times a frustrating pursuit, but when paired up with good company and some 19th hole refreshments, it's really not too bad a pursuit at all.

2019 Update: Social media links have been added for Play It Again Sports; also, links have been removed for Ables Golf on Avery, as it has closed its doors in November 2018 to make way for apartments.

Play It Again Sports
4720 Cemetery Road (Google Maps)
Hilliard, OH 43026
(614) 529-9100
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Ables Golf on Avery
5300 Avery Rd (Google Maps)
Dublin, OH 43016
(614) 529-9650

Ice Cream Chronicles (Pt. 9): The Little Shoppe That Could

One thing I started noticing recently during my current summer ice cream crawl is that all the places I've visited were all fairly well established. Whit's Frozen Custard, covered in my last ice cream blogpost, is the youngest of the lot with just over a decade in existence. On the other end of the timescale, Graeter's Ice Cream has roots back to the late 1800s.

This made me think to myself: were there any newcomers around this area trying to make a dent in an area some have called the Capital of Ice Cream?

Enter in The Little Ice Cream Shoppe of Hilliard, a family-owned ice cream purveyor in the vein of the previously visited Mardi Gras which officially opened up for business at the doorstep of winter in December 2012.

This place is somewhat easy to miss upon first drive by: the store's sign doesn't really stand out against the somewhat non-descript exterior brick inlay which their resident Tinapple Mall sports. However, this bland exterior gives way to a neatly manicured but not uber-fancy interior that still hints at this business's still relatively new arrival onto the scene. This interior seems to have enough space to host a fairly decently sized birthday get-together or similar event.

Ice cream flavors (the Shoppe sports 24 at any one time) are written freehand right on the glass display cases, which works in concert with similarly-styled artwork on the front windows. Sundaes are the main focus of the menu, with  floats and shakes also available as options. A freezer with pre-packaged pints is also available who need their ice cream on the go.

Flavors seem mainly oriented to kid-oriented palates with a few flavors geared to more "adult" palates (i.e. Dark Chocolate and Espresso Chip.) Some flavors have already become standards such as The Cat's Meow (I missed this one in my initial viewing) and Superman (a melange of various berry flavors and related colors that I'm thinking is a kid favorite.)

After a sampling of the latter and the Pistachio Almond, and not seeing my standard Butter Pecan available, I went on a whim and went with one scoop each of the Coconut Almond Chip and Dulce de Leche ($3.99.) The former was my favorite of the two, sporting a similar texture to the ice creams I had at Bexley's Johnson's Real Ice Cream. The Dulce de Leche might be a little sweet for some tastes, but did sport a lighter and creamier mouth feel with nice swirls of caramel within the base.

For me, The Little Ice Cream Shoppe is geared toward the kids and those families with kids. This has been a tried-and-true strategy for almost all ice cream places past and present, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. What may make the Shoppe become a long-term member of the ice cream society in the Columbus metro area lie as much with the product (solidly good, but not spectacular and/or gourmet based on my first tastings) as it does with another equally important aspect: the people associated with the product.

My visit took place during a lull in the foot traffic, and shortly after I had settled down at my seat to eat my scoops, the only person left in there was my server. Frankly, I would've been just fine with finishing my ice cream by my lonesome for my time there, but my server was intent on putting a friendly foot forward. For the next fifteen minutes or so, I engaged in a completely (and pleasantly) unexpected conversation with this young man while I ate my sweet treat.

I noticed a recent Facebook post from the business thanking their workers who were returning back to school (this young man would be included in this group.) If this server is typical of the friendliness of people associated with The Little Ice Cream Shoppe, I would say this aspect, combined with that initial passion to start from scratch and the production of solid quality ice cream, tilts their odds of reaching that previously mentioned decade mark in their favor.

The Little Ice Cream Shoppe
3229 Hilliard-Rome Rd (Google Maps)
Hilliard, OH 43026
(614) 563-3485
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